Waltee foewabd



(No Model.)

W. FORWARD.

VGONSTRUGTION 0F NAVIGABLE VESSELS. No. 364,688. v Patented June 14, 1887.

Fig.4.

171511125525; I I Inflenmr:

N. PETERS. PmloLilhogrApher, Wazhinyon. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER FoRwAIin, or SHINGLETOWN, CALIFORNIA.

CONSTRUCTION OF NAVIGABLE VESSELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,638, dated June 14, 1887.

Application filed February 5, 1886. Renewed December 8, 1886. Serial No. 220,948. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER FORWARD, a citizen of the United -States, residing in the county of Shasta (Shiugletown post-office) and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Navigable Vessels; and I do hereby declare .that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.'

My invention relates to improvements made in hulls or bodies of ships and vessels; and it consists in the form and construction of sides and bottom from plane surfaces, as hereinafter tion; Fig. 2, a plan; Fig. 3, a front View taken from the left-hand end of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a cross-section at the line 0300, Fig. 2.

The views illustrate the principle upon which my invention is constructed, and they represent the simple hull or body without the upper structure, as all such parts have no connection with the invention, and are not necessary for a clear description thereof.

The form of this hull or body is that/which will be produced from twolong and narrow compartments by placing one flatwise like a scow for the-lowermost body portion, and the other upon it edgewise along the middle or longitudinal center line of the top surface, so that the lower scow-like part has considerable excess of breadth on each side, the two com partments being produced from plane surfaces and in a single structure in substantially. the following manner:

The lower part, A, is built like a scowthat is, the sides are practicallystraight and the bottom A is flat; but'while the stern is left square the head is shaped like a wedge. This is produced by carrying down the deck or upper surface at the head to the line 00 y,

asshown at a and carrying up the bottom A to meet it, as shown as a, the junction of the two inclined planes forming a straight edge, more or less acute, and at a right angle to the general longitudinal axis of the hull.

The line a: y, upon which the axis of the wedge is set, should be about one-third the distance below the top line of the part A, so that the angle of the lower face is about twice that of the upper face of the wedge, The length of this wedgeshaped prow A is made about onethird the entire length of the hull.

The partB is produced by carrying two plane surfaces, 1) b, from a common line of junction, 1), at the middle of and perpendicular to the acute edge of the prow, regularly backward and with equal divergence on either side of the longitudinal center line of the hull to the stern. These sides form the upper portion of the body and are set substantially perpendicular to the top of the lower scow-shape part, above which they support the upper works of the Vessel, so that the breadth of this upper compartment is considerably less than the lower compartment, and the parts of the upper structure overhang more or less,

according to the character of the vessel being constructed. The laterally-projecting top surfaces, a beyond the walls I) b, are shown flat, or without slope; but they can be set at an angle to have more or less pitch toward the sides of the scow-shaped part, as indicated in dotted lines 2 2, Fig. 4.

The part A is strengthened by longitudinal partitions O 0, running the full length of this compartment and dividing it into water-tight spaces of equal size, that may be subdivided by bulk-heads into spaces and apartments, as required and as best adapted to the vessel. The partitions are carried through or continued below the bottom A to form the heels O 0*. These extend from the point of the prow A to the stern in parallel order and of equal I followed out to the production of an improved hull or body, is calculated to give great sta bility, buoyancy, and improved speed. The weight of the structure is intended to bring the water-line, when lightly loaded or under the conditions of ordinary load, at about the line as 3 on which the plane of the prow A is placed; but the general form of the hull is adapted to permit a considerable increase of weight without materially raising the waterline, and it can be submerged with safety until the water-line is raised altogether above the top surface of the lowermost scow-shaped part A. The form of this lower part is designed to give great stability.

The spaces inclosed by the walls of these two compartments, represented by A B, eonstitute the hold, and the interior of the hull proper-as the decks, cabins, and other apartments and spaccswill be built upon and over the narrow upper portion, 13.

The stern is built square or with more or less projection at the top, as may be found best suited to the class of vessel under construction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A hull or body for vessels, consisting of part B, tapering from stern to bow and terminating in a wedge-shaped end at the bow, and the broad bottom part, A, having equal lateral projection or excess of breadth of the part B and terminating in the wedge shaped prow A", which is formed of the inclined surfaces ta a, the plane of said wedges standing at right angles to each other, substantial] y as shown and described.

2. In a ship or navigable vessel, a hull or body having tapering perpendicularsides I) [2,

running from a common point or line at the bow regularly backward to the stern, and the laterally-proj ectingbottom portion, A,with flat bottom, perpendicular sides, and the wedgeshaped prow A substantially as described.

3. In a hull for ships or navigable vessels, the lower body portion, A, having lateral projection or excess of breadth beyond the upper part, and the wedge-shaped prow A having the top and bottom surfaces inclined, in combination with the upper narrower part, sub stantial] y as described and shown.

4. In a hall for vessels, the combination of thelower seow-like portion, A, having its bow wedge-shaped on a longitudinal plane, and the narrow body portion B, standing above it, formed of perpendicular plane surfaces that present a wedge-shaped end at the bow at a right angle to part A, substantially as described and shown.

5. In the hull of a vessel, the combination of the narrow compartment or upper portion,

3, the broad. scowshaped lower portion, A, and the longitudinal partitions G 0, located in the lower portionot' the hull, dividing the interior space into compartments extending the full length of the hull, substantially as described.

IVALTER FORIVARD.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN L. TAGGARD, ED\VARD E. OsnoRN. 

